My project is about metaphors of conversion in Latin Late Antiquity (mid-3rd to mid-6th century AD). It understands 'conversion' as the religiously interpreted process of holistic reorientation („religiös gedeuteter Prozess ganzheitlicher Umorientierung“, Bischofberger [1998] 1228) of an individual, which is expressed in conversion to another conception of god(s) (e.g. Paganism, Manichaeism, Christianity, New Platonism), an interreligious grouping (e.g. Valentinianism, Gnosticism, Montanism), a (more radical) religious way of life such as (desert) asceticism or consecration to virginity, or a change of life brought about by repentance. Metaphors are thereby examined as elementary components of the linguistic toolkit for communicating ideas of conversion. In this presentation, I will share some of my current reflections: I will single out two source domains, seafaring and childbirth, and offer reflections on their literary use. These examples will lead to some broader questions regarding theoretical and methodological issues in historical metaphor theory.
